Dormancy-inducing 3D engineered matrix uncovers mechanosensitive and drug-protective FHL2-p21 signaling axis.

Solid cancers frequently relapse with distant metastasis, despite local and systemic treatment. Cellular dormancy has been identified as an important mechanism underlying drug resistance enabling late relapse. Therefore, relapse from invisible, minimal residual cancer of seemingly disease-free patients call for in vitro models of dormant cells suited for drug discovery.

Characterization and quantification of in-vitro equine bone resorption in 3D using μCT and deep learning-aided feature segmentation.

High cyclic strains induce formation of microcracks in bone, triggering targeted bone remodeling, which entails osteoclastic resorption. Racehorse bone is an ideal model for studying the effects of high-intensity loading, as it is subject to focal formation of microcracks and subsequent bone resorption. The volume of resorption in vitro is considered a direct indicator of osteoclast activity but indirect 2D measurements are used more often.

Effect of capillary fluid flow on single cancer cell cycle dynamics, motility, volume and morphology.

From primary tumours and disseminating to secondary organs, cancer cells experience a wide variety of fluid flow profiles when passing through blood vessels or the lymphatic system before extravasation. Sinusoidal capillaries are a common site for extravasation. Therefore, we aim to investigate how metastatic cancer cells react to a biophysical cue such as capillary fluid flow by quantifying its effect on metastatic cell cycle progression, motility, cell and nuclear volume, and morphology.

Interplay of surface interaction and magnetic torque in single-cell motion of magnetotactic bacteria in microfluidic confinement.

Swimming microorganisms often experience complex environments in their natural habitat. The same is true for microswimmers in envisioned biomedical applications. The simple aqueous conditions typically studied in the lab differ strongly from those found in these environments and often exclude the effects of small volume confinement or the influence that external fields have on their motion.

FUCCItrack: An all-in-one software for single cell tracking and cell cycle analysis.

Beyond the more conventional single-cell segmentation and tracking, single-cell cycle dynamics is gaining a growing interest in the field of cell biology. Thanks to sophisticated systems, such as the fluorescent ubiquitination-based cell cycle indicator (FUCCI), it is now possible to study cell proliferation, migration, changes in nuclear morphology and single cell cycle dynamics, quantitatively and in real time. In this work, we introduce FUCCItrack, an all-in-one, semi-automated software to segment, track and visualize FUCCI modified cell lines.

In vivo microCT-based time-lapse morphometry reveals anatomical site-specific differences in bone (re)modeling serving as baseline parameters to detect early pathological events.

The bone structure is very dynamic and continuously adapts its geometry to external stimuli by modeling and remodeling the mineralized tissue. In vivo microCT-based time-lapse morphometry is a powerful tool to study the temporal and spatial dynamics of bone (re)modeling. Here an advancement in the methodology to detect and quantify site-specific differences in bone (re)modeling of 12-week-old BALB/c nude mice is presented.

Osmotic pressure modulates single cell cycle dynamics inducing reversible growth arrest and reactivation of human metastatic cells.

Biophysical cues such as osmotic pressure modulate proliferation and growth arrest of bacteria, yeast cells and seeds. In tissues, osmotic regulation takes place through blood and lymphatic capillaries and, at a single cell level, water and osmoregulation play a critical role. However, the effect of osmotic pressure on single cell cycle dynamics remains poorly understood.

Optical quantification of intracellular mass density and cell mechanics in 3D mechanical confinement.

Biophysical properties of cells such as intracellular mass density and cell mechanics are known to be involved in a wide range of homeostatic functions and pathological alterations. An optical readout that can be used to quantify such properties is the refractive index (RI) distribution. It has been recently reported that the nucleus, initially presumed to be the organelle with the highest dry mass density (ρ) within the cell, has in fact a lower RI and ρ than its surrounding cytoplasm.